Even professors are rewarded for doing their homework.The University announced the 2009 Rainmaker recipients, 100 faculty members recognized for innovative research and creative scholarship, who compete for external funding and attract and mentor graduate students.”It was started as a way to honor our faculty members who are excelling in research, obtaining external funding and other types of creative scholarship across campus,” said Doris Carver, Office of Research and Economic Development associate vice chancellor.The Rainmaker award recognizes the faculty who have “special talents in making things happen in the scholarship world,” Carver said.Carver said Brooks Keel, vice chancellor of Research and Economic Development, came up with the idea for the Rainmaker award.The Rainmaker recipients were recognized at the annual Rainmakers Gala on Oct. 13. At the award ceremony, which is a black-tie optional event, the recipients are recognized for their research and scholarship contributions with a pin and formal dinner. The gala was underwritten by a donation from Campus Federal.Recipients receive no monetary prize for being recognized, Carver said.Graham Bodie, communication studies assistant professor, said he probably received recognition because of his publication record in the last year.”Last year, I published 12 peer reviewed articles,” Bodie said. “It means a lot since it was my first year at LSU. I received my Ph.D. in 2008, so to already be recognized for productivity means a lot especially because it was my first year out of graduate school.”Bodie attended the Gala and said it was nice to be around faculty members who have been at the University for a long time.Christopher White, petroleum engineering associate professor, said meeting the other Rainmaker recipients made the evening more special. “It was nice to go there and see who else was being recognized and have them see me in the crowd, too,” White said.White said he was nominated mainly for his efforts to do collaborative research on geothermal energy and oil and gas production with computer scientists, mathematicians and geologists at the University.Not all recipients felt the same as White and Bodie about the recognition.Michael Murphy, mechanical engineering professor, said he did not attend the gala, and the Rainmaker recognition did not mean a lot to him.—-Contact Mary Walker Baus at [email protected]